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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29983902">and if you wake up feeling happy, you're doing it wrong</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Probably_Not_Captain_America/pseuds/Probably_Not_Captain_America'>Probably_Not_Captain_America</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars, Star Wars Legends: Tales of the Jedi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ALL the bickering, Chronic Pain, Denial of Feelings, Established Relationship, Fluff, I have No Excuse, Idiots in Love, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Whump, and denial, at least thats what they tell themselves, mainly denial, more like friends with benefits, more or less</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:42:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,980</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29983902</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Probably_Not_Captain_America/pseuds/Probably_Not_Captain_America</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He stood up, more or less dragging Ulic up with him. Ulic nearly tripped, the blood loss rapidly taking its toll, but he managed to keep his footing.</p><p>“Don’t bother. It can’t do much –“ another wave of nausea, but Ulic persisted “—do much anyways. Just hand me a kolto pack and I’ll be fine.”</p><p>In that moment, Ulic felt his knees buckle underneath him – but Exar was faster, catching his arm before Ulic added unnecessary bruises to his already impressive repertoire of injuries.</p><p>“I’ll take the liberty of doubting your word here,” Exar said grimly, loosening his hold but not letting go entirely.<br/>“Can you walk?”</p><p>---</p><p>In the battle over Koros Major, Ulic Qel-Droma suffered a magic-infused shrapnel wound that has resisted all attempts at healing - at least, so far. As it turns out, having the galaxy's leading expert on Sith Alchemy as a Master does come in handy on occasion.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Exar Kun/Ulic Qel-Droma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>and if you wake up feeling happy, you're doing it wrong</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, I've never read Redemption (shame on me, I know), but afaik that shrapnel wound of Ulic's never gets healed. It's shown oozing blood in a few panels of The Sith War, which gave me the idea for this entirely self-indulgent tooth-rooting fluff. Sue me.<br/>Also, yes I know, Exar's lightsaber is plain blue, but I always preferred aquamarine or green-ish cyan for design reasons. It sets him apart a little, and it's a rather rare colour, so hey there's that.<br/>Takes place after now i'm drowning in the flood i made, but reading that isn't strictly required.<br/>Title quote is from Lethal Combination by The Wombats.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Is <em>this</em> the best you’ve got, Qel-Droma?”</p><p>“Wait and see!”</p><p>A blinding flash of saber on saber as Ulic met his opponent head on.</p><p>Exar Kun flashed a mocking grin over the bright cyan of his blade.</p><p>“I’m waiting.”</p><p>Ulic responded with a breathless laugh - and a well-timed kick at Exar’s shin.</p><p>The Dark Lord dodged effortlessly, and Ulic spun him out of the deadlock with practiced ease, flourishing his saber as they jumped apart.</p><p>With some distance between them, Ulic cocked his head in challenge.</p><p>Exar had the nerve to shrug, and then he charged at Ulic full force, cutting his sparring partner no slack as the sound of their clashing lightsabers reverberated through the grandiose colosseum.</p><p>Their sparring matches had become a routine of sorts; once or twice a week, depending on the current state of the war effort, the reigning Dark Lord and his grudging apprentice would meet at the ancient colosseum on Yavin 4 to hone their duelling skills. It had originated from simple necessity, seeing as how there weren’t too many other lightsaber wielders of either side around to battle, but over the last few months, Ulic had begun to look forward to their fights.</p><p>The colosseum was massive, considerably too grand for use as simple training grounds, but it was convenient, and Ulic found himself enjoying the whiff of drama it added as a backdrop.</p><p>So did Exar, most likely; after all, it was here that he’d battled and defeated the worst of Naga Sadow’s horrors, and eventually even the very spirit of Freedon Nadd. The simmering rage that had saved him back then had only grown stronger since; Exar was ruthlessly violent and not to be trifled with, even with their lightsabers dialled down.</p><p>Virtually all of his blows struck true, and it always took every ounce of Ulic’s skill to even keep up, much less gain the upper hand in a fight; it was challenging, and Ulic loved a challenge. Being matched nearly equally in terms of duelling, their fights regularly turned dirty: elbows to the face, kicks to the knee, Force throws into piles of rubble, none of that even phased Ulic anymore. He was used to coming out of their matches dishevelled and bruised, sometimes bleeding, and always breathless (not always for the same reasons; both he and Exar did like it rough, after all).</p><p>Right now, however, Ulic was panting with sheer exertion. Exar was particularly relentless today, seemingly impossible to tire out, and Ulic was slowly running out of tactics to try. He grit his teeth, gripped his saber harder, and lunged forward.</p><p>He aimed straight for Exar’s head, raising his blade overhead for a killing blow, but Exar was faster –</p><p>He ducked to the side, and in the same smooth movement delivered a full force kick to Ulic’s left side.</p><p>-</p><p>White-hot agony shot through Ulic like lightning. For an excruciating moment, he couldn’t breathe, <em>couldn’t think</em>, completely paralyzed by the pain radiating from his side like molten carbonite –</p><p>Exar’s kick had squarely connected with his old shrapnel wound. <em>This absolute asshole--</em></p><p>As soon as his breath returned, Ulic <em>screamed</em>, teeth clenched in vain against the sound. His knees made hard contact with the stone tiles as he dropped, clutching his side, his saber falling out of his hand with a dull clutter.</p><p>If Exar wanted him dead, this was a prime moment, but Ulic was hard pressed to care as he struggled to remember how to breathe. His vision was swimming. He knew the pain was unnatural, completely bloated for a wound this small, but the knowledge did little to lessen the impact.</p><p><em>Breathe</em>.</p><p>Agonizingly slowly, the pain subsided, breath by shallow breath, and after what felt like minutes but must have been mere seconds, Ulic came back to his senses. He was on his knees, curled in on himself, sweat-damp hair clinging to his forehead as he focused his eyes on the carved stone beneath him.</p><p>He slowly raised his head and was greeted with the sight of an utterly bewildered Sith Lord.</p><p>-</p><p>“…Ulic?”</p><p>Exar stood still, saber in hand but not in combat stance anymore, head tilted to the side in question. Ulic had no idea what he was playing at – there was no way that kick hadn’t been intentional.</p><p>
  <em>Well, at least he doesn’t want me dead. Yet.</em>
</p><p>Ulic bared his teeth, somewhere between a snarl and a humourless grin.</p><p>“<em>What</em>? Satisfied you got me on my knees again?” he spat out, every breath still stinging noticeably. The last thing he needed right now was Exar’s relentlessly cruel mockery he no doubt had to share about Ulic’s defeat. Ulic looked away.</p><p>“That was a dirty move, and you <em>know</em> it. I’m almost disappointed you’d sink this low.”</p><p>Exar frowned.</p><p>“What are you <em>talking</em> about? A few weeks ago, I kicked you hard enough to crack two ribs, and you didn’t even notice it until the day after. Did I snap a rib right into your spleen this time? What <em>is</em> it?”</p><p>Beneath his irritation, Exar sounded oddly concerned. <em>You’re not honestly telling me – doesn’t he know?</em></p><p>Ulic snorted.</p><p>“Do you ever even pay <em>attention</em> when we fuck, or am I that disposable?”</p><p> “<em>What</em>!? What does that have to do with anything?” Exar answered, looking more confused than angry at this point.</p><p>Ulic let out an exasperated groan, running his hand through his hair in frustration.</p><p>“Exar, I absolutely do not know what you’re playing here, but to humour you: you kicked me right into an old shrapnel wound. You know, the Sith alchemy one that never really closes? Yeah, that one.”</p><p>Ulic’s sarcasm was biting, but he felt like he’d exhausted all other options.</p><p>Exar shook his head forcefully, his numerous earrings swaying with the motion.</p><p>“I have no idea what – <em>Force</em>, Ulic, you’re bleeding!”</p><p>Ulic looked down, lifting his hand from his side and finding it covered in blood. His tunic was drenched dark red in a slowly expanding circle over the wound, a thin line of blood already trickling down to the pavement. He hadn’t even realized the wound had opened. A wave of nausea hit him with the sight of it, and he swayed a little on his knees.</p><p>To his surprise, a strong hand on his shoulder steadied him – Exar suddenly appeared before him, crouched down to Ulic’s eye level. He wasn’t looking at Ulic, though; facing off to the side, he barked something in the Massassi dialect of Ancient Sith Ulic didn’t quite understand. In the corner of his eye, Ulic saw one of the colosseum’s guardians heading off towards the temples.</p><p>“The medical droid is being readied. Get <em>up</em>, Qel-Droma, you’re no good to me bleeding out from a sparring injury!” Exar urged.</p><p>He stood up, more or less dragging Ulic up with him. Ulic nearly tripped, the blood loss rapidly taking its toll, but he managed to keep his footing.</p><p>“Don’t bother. It can’t do much –“ another wave of nausea, but Ulic persisted “—do much anyways. Just hand me a kolto pack and I’ll be fine.”</p><p>In that moment, Ulic felt his knees buckle underneath him – but Exar was faster, catching his arm before Ulic added unnecessary bruises to his already impressive repertoire of injuries.</p><p>“I’ll take the liberty of doubting your word here,” Exar said grimly, loosening his hold but not letting go entirely.</p><p>“Can you walk?”</p><p>Ulic managed a disbelieving laugh.</p><p>“Even if I couldn’t, what would <em>you</em> do about it? Carry me?”</p><p>“If it’s necessary.”</p><p>Ulic looked at Exar; he seemed completely serious. Ulic really didn’t know how to respond to that, so he opted to stay silent.</p><p>Exar tilted his chin in the direction of the shipyard.</p><p>“The T-18 MD is on the <em>Corsair</em>. Come on.”</p><p>Ulic was still struggling to stay upright, but managed to walk more or less straight, though with more support from Exar than he was comfortable with. He couldn’t fathom why the Dark Lord was acting with such care now when he’d caused the injury in the first place, but he wasn’t about to question it if it meant he’d get painkillers more quickly.</p><p>The heat of the Yavin jungle was less oppressive this time of the year, but it still hit Ulic like a brick wall after the relative cool of the colosseum’s interior.</p><p>As they walked (or rather, Exar walked and Ulic stumbled), Exar spoke up.</p><p>“If you’re in any shape to explain it, I still don’t know what’s wrong with you. What Sith injury were you talking about?”</p><p>Ulic grunted.</p><p>“You’re not seriously telling me you’ve never seen the massive wound on my left side, are you? The jagged one that never really looks healed?”</p><p>“Oh, <em>that</em> one? I thought that was a fresh injury, it barely looked scabbed.”</p><p>Shifting the weight of Ulic’s arm on his back, Exar continued:</p><p>“I did avoid touching it, but you can’t honestly blame me for not keeping track of all your wounds. They <em>are</em> rather frequent and plentiful in our line of business, after all. By all means, it should have been healed by now, shouldn’t it?”</p><p>Ulic ground out a humourless laugh.</p><p>“Yes, that one. And yes, it should have – that’s the joke, you know. It never does. It’s almost a year old now, from the battle of Koros Major. A piece of shrapnel hit me that was apparently infused with some Sith magic or other – whatever it was, nothing’s been able to close it permanently. It still opens sometimes. Obviously, kicking it in full force doesn’t help matters much,” he added, with as vicious a glare as he could muster. Exar chose to ignore it.</p><p>“<em>Koros Major!</em>? By the Dark Side, that’s impressive. Just a few weeks ago it looked fresh! That must have been powerful magic indeed. Why haven’t you healed it?”</p><p>“Exar, are you even <em>listening</em>? I didn’t <em>choose</em> to run around with a half-open wound in my side. Nothing has shown any lasting effect! I slap kolto patches onto it every now and again because it makes me feel better than doing absolutely nothing about it, and that’s it. I’ll just have to live with it.”</p><p>Exar raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“Live with an injury that can make a single kick bring you down in battle? That doesn’t seem advisable.”</p><p>“Well, as long as I don’t broadcast it too much – which I apparently didn’t or you wouldn’t be so clueless right now – it’s manageable. Can’t count how many tunics I’ve bled through, though. This one’s a goner, too, I reckon,” Ulic added, more to himself than Exar, looking down at his increasingly soaked training gear.</p><p>He was losing blood rather rapidly, which would be alarming under any other circumstance, but at this point, Ulic was almost used to it. It’d scab over eventually, he’d take some synthblood capsules and that would be the end of it, at least for another few weeks.</p><p>Exar seemed torn between concern and fascination. Ulic couldn’t blame him; he knew how interested the Dark Lord was in Sith Alchemy, and he was practically a test specimen. He decided to indulge Exar, if only to distract himself from the growing threat of fainting from shock.</p><p>“Master Odan-Urr told me this type of magic is designed to hurt, rather than kill. This wound will inflict the maximum amount of pain for the maximum amount of time, then it’ll go dormant and start again when the host has recovered. Kind of like a – ugh!”</p><p>Ulic tripped squarely over a root in their way, and if it hadn’t been for Exar supporting virtually his entire weight like a stone pillar, he would have landed flat on the ground. Even after all this time, it was still disturbing how much blood this wound could make him lose in so little time; but Ulic was used to it, so he shot a quick half-smile at Exar in thanks before he continued:</p><p>“  - kind of like a parasite. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as it used to these days, but it still tears open every few weeks.”</p><p>Exar had listened carefully, holding Ulic steady as he spoke. Now he inclined his head in question.</p><p>“Nothing has helped, you say?” he asked.</p><p>“Nothing we’ve tried, anyways,” Ulic answered, “and we’ve tried a lot. Any Jedi healing technique you can think of, kolto, regular suture clips, even Devaronian flesh worms” – Ulic shuddered at the thought; those things hadn’t been pleasant – “but no success.”</p><p>Exar seemed to think hard on something, gaze going distant – then suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.</p><p>“Exar?”</p><p>“I think our time is better spent in my laboratories than with the medical droids. Come on, this way.”</p><p>Ulic was mildly irritated, to say the least.</p><p>“<em>Our</em> time? Exar, I don’t know what <em>your</em> plans for today were, but I’m a little busy trying not to bleed to death here! So whatever it is you’re doing, will you –“</p><p>-- and then the world started spinning, and the blurred image of Exar’s face was the last thing Ulic saw before his vision went black.</p><p>--</p><p>When he came to, Ulic felt – good.</p><p>He was decently comfortable, clean, and in no noticeable pain.</p><p>
  <em>Wait, what?!</em>
</p><p>His memory lagged behind his consciousness, but now it caught up – <em>the sparring match, pain, Exar, all the blood he’d lost</em> – where was he?</p><p>He slowly opened his eyes, blinking against the stinging brightness that encountered him. <em>A medbay?</em> But no, the smell was different – no kolto, no sterilite, nothing of the sort. Instead, it smelled earthy, almost dank, of stone and dust.</p><p>Ulic’s vision cleared, and the ceiling above him came into focus. It was indeed stone, but intertwined with almost organic looking technology, weaving an intricate web above him that stretched beyond his view. He vaguely recognized it as ancient Sith technology, having seen similar structure on the Corsair – this must be one of Exar’s alchemic laboratories, then. From what he could tell, he lay in some sort of bunk, a cove inset into the wall.</p><p>Ulic felt steady enough to sit up. He did, and it worked – no pain in his side whatsoever.</p><p>
  <em>Hm. Odd.</em>
</p><p>He was shirtless, covered by a thin blanket that looked suspiciously like a wall drapery. It slid back as he straightened, revealing –</p><p>Flawless skin. Any trace of his shrapnel injury was completely gone.</p><p>Ulic touched a hand to his side, marvelling at the feeling of smooth, unblemished skin underneath.</p><p>
  <em>How?!</em>
</p><p>“Ah, you’re awake. How do you feel?”</p><p>Exar’s voice rang out from across the room. Ulic turned his head in the general direction to see Exar siting at a stone desk strewn with ancient-looking scrolls. When he saw Ulic move, he got up and strode over.</p><p> “I don’t – I don’t know? Good? I – <em>how</em>?? Where’s my injury? What did you <em>do</em>?”</p><p>Ulic struggled for words; try as he might, he couldn’t form a more coherent sentence just yet. Exar flashed a smug grin, making no effort to hide his satisfaction at having managed to leave Ulic genuinely speechless for once, but Ulic couldn’t care less for the moment.</p><p>“Good. You were out for almost a full day, I was beginning to worry I had misread the texts. I take it that the spell worked, then?” Exar asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>“I…suppose so? Is this your doing?”</p><p>Exar’s grin didn’t falter.</p><p>“Simply put, yes.</p><p>“And putting it complicated?”</p><p>“Well, I didn’t exactly invent the spell myself. I read about it a while ago in Naga Sadow’s texts he left behind, and I recognised it as the one that Freedon Nadd’s spirit used to heal me on Korriban.”</p><p>Exar looked away, his gaze hardening by a fraction.</p><p>“Though I did modify it to be less…well, excruciatingly painful. I suspect that it was made to be as uncomfortable as possible to prevent people from using it all the time. Though it really is very effective,” he said, rolling up his sleeve as he spoke.</p><p>“This arm was virtually shattered by boulders. I had at least five fractures, two of them open.”</p><p>He held his arm out to Ulic. The skin looked flawless, apart from one or two smaller scars that looked fresher than the event he was recalling.</p><p>“No trace. Not even a scar. Truly astonishing, isn’t it? Anyways, since they kept me from bleeding to death on a dusty tomb floor, I figured these magicks might be helpful in treating that wound of yours. Apparently I was right.”</p><p>“Apparently,” Ulic echoed, gaze alternating between Exar’s arm and his own torso.</p><p>“If there was a list of offences the Jedi Order was guilty of, the top spot would no doubt be narrow-mindedness,” Exar continued, “You’d think that with all the fuss they were making about that one single Sith Holocron they’d managed to loot, they might have considered consulting it for a cure. You can’t have been the only Jedi affected by an injury of this kind.”</p><p>Ulic inclined his head.</p><p>“Of course Jedi healers can’t do much against Sith magic. If they could, it wouldn’t be that much of a problem, I suppose.”</p><p>In response, Exar gave a condescending laugh.</p><p>“Well, obviously. All it would have taken them was study of ancient Sith texts, not even particularly careful study, I might add, and they could have prevented a lot of casualties in the Krath War. But the Jedi are so caught up in their own dogma, they wouldn’t touch a Dark Side text if it held all the secrets of the Force,” he added, shaking his head in disbelief.</p><p>Ulic laughed, a bit too giddily perhaps, but he was genuinely relieved at not having to worry about bleeding out every few weeks.</p><p>“They really are a bunch of idiots sometimes, honestly. I have nothing too personal against the Jedi, all things considered, but you’re right.”</p><p>Exar flashed a half-grin in response. It was hard not to notice his good mood: sitting there across from Ulic, in his favourite green turtleneck, leaning back with one leg resting on the other, hair a little messy and laughing, Exar seemed to positively <em>glow</em>.</p><p>(Well, Ulic suspected it was his favourite. Exar certainly wore it a lot, but Ulic liked to pretend he wasn’t keeping tabs on things like Exar’s favourite clothing.)</p><p>It was oddly…nice, to see Exar happy for a change. He usually had the demeanour of a Nexu, and there weren’t many things he seemed to genuinely enjoy. He clearly took pride in having executed what Ulic could only guess to be a very advanced spell successfully. Which begged another question Ulic hadn’t addressed yet:</p><p>“Why did you do it, though?”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>Ulic sat up.</p><p>“I mean, why did you feel compelled to heal me? You could have just killed me, or let the Sith curse do it for you. You know, rule the galaxy alone and all, since you really don’t seem like the type to share.”</p><p>Exar frowned in irritation, looking almost scandalised.</p><p>“Beg your pardon? If I wanted you dead, Qel-Droma, you’d be six feet under by now. It’s not like there was a lack of opportunity for me to kill you. Besides, what good would that do? Mandalore and his warriors answer to you. I doubt their moral obligation would keep them under my command for much longer if you were dead, since you were the one who personally defeated him.”</p><p>The Dark Lord leaned back in his seat, gesturing as he talked.</p><p>“And I needed someone to test this spell on, honestly. Ever since I had to suffer through it myself, I was exceedingly curious about how it worked.”</p><p>Ulic looked sceptical.</p><p>“You know that I already had that wound for over half a year when I defeated Mandalore, right? It wasn’t that much of a problem, and it’s not like you’re short of Massassi to experiment on. I’m inclined to disbelieve you.”</p><p>Exar’s expression hardened, and for a moment Ulic worried he might have gone too far; but then he seemed to relax again, for reasons Ulic wasn’t sure of. Perhaps he just didn’t want to fight.</p><p>“Well, to be honest, you really are quite entertaining, all things considered. You can hold your own against me in sparring matches, which is very rare indeed. It’d be a pity to lose that.”</p><p>Ulic’s eyebrows climbed up as a grin made its way on his face.</p><p>“Oh, would it now? You can just admit that you like me, you know. I mean, honestly…”</p><p>Ulic sat up and leaned back, languidly stretching his arms above his head to show off as much skin as possible.</p><p>“… who wouldn’t?”                                                       </p><p>“The Jedi, obviously.” Exar deadpanned, pointedly ignoring Ulic’s display.</p><p>Ulic snorted a laugh, despite his best efforts to keep the mood.</p><p>“Touché.”</p><p>He looked down, turning serious.</p><p>“…thanks, I guess. Seriously. I’d given up all hope to ever get rid of this damn shrapnel injury. With the amount of treatments they tried…”</p><p>He trailed off, not wanting to look Exar in the eye. Ulic could imagine more pleasant situations than owing this much of his life to <em>Exar</em>, of all people.</p><p>Exar grunted a non-committing sound that might pass as an answer.</p><p>“Don’t flatter yourself, Qel-Droma. This wasn’t personal.”</p><p>Ulic got the distinct feeling that they both knew that it <em>was</em>, in fact, very personal, but he buried the feeling as quickly as it came. No need to dwell on that in too much detail.</p><p>“So…” Ulic began, not sure where to take the situation. He was feeling increasingly better, invigorated by his new (old?) health as he got used to the unfamiliar sensation. A lot about his movement and posture had changed to accommodate the injury over the past year, and finally being able to stretch again without fear of ending up in medbay was…<em>exciting</em>, to say the least. He side-eyed Exar.</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>A sly smirk crept on Ulic’s face. He drew a hand through his hair and drew up his leg, just enough for the drapery to pool around his hips.</p><p>“You said you’d avoided touching my injury, right?”</p><p>Exar responded with a mildly puzzled look.</p><p>“Of course I did? I don’t know about your sick preferences, but sticking my fingers into open wounds has never been much of a turn-on for me, Qel-Droma.”</p><p>Ulic huffed a laugh.</p><p>“Fair enough, I guess. But now that I’m healed, there’s really no need for being overly careful, is there?”</p><p>Exar was clearly a little slow on the catch up; then again, he did look like he hadn’t slept in a while.</p><p>“I suppose not? Ulic, are you sure you didn’t hit your head while you were at it? You’re not making much sense.”</p><p>Ulic rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.</p><p> “Exar, I’m asking you to fuck me.”</p><p> “…oh.”</p><p>Exar blinked in a way Ulic could only describe as sheepish, which he found incredibly entertaining. Catching Exar off guard was one of the little triumphs of Ulic’s life. He quickly caught himself again, however.</p><p>“Force, Qel-Droma, you’re nothing if not gracelessly blunt. Have you no shame?”</p><p>His tone was serious, but Exar’s amused expression belied him.</p><p>“Says the guy who gets off on hearing me beg.”</p><p>“Says the man who clearly gets off on begging me.”</p><p>“Make me, then.”</p><p>Exar grinned wickedly as he stood up, a particular sparkle in his grey eyes that sent a shiver down Ulic’s spine without fail every time; Exar never could resist a challenge, Ulic had learned that much.</p><p>“You seem oddly keen on keeping your tally of injuries for someone who’s just been healed of a chronic wound,” he said, sliding over Ulic and straddling his legs in a smooth, predator motion.</p><p>Ulic lazily ran a hand under Exar’s shirt and up his spine.</p><p>“Well, I do have a reputation for being brash and reckless, you know. Got to live up to it,” Ulic answered, and pulled Exar into a kiss.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>...aand here you are! congrats for reading through this. ilu&lt;3 this was really just supposed to be a short little thing, and just this once I managed to keep it that way so...yay i guess? god i love writing these two. i'll need to write something from Exar's pov one of these days.<br/>As always, point out mistakes, and comments make my day~ seriously. I always love hearing from you guys out there.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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